Easter Lamb Cake

While my parents were alive for many years, it was my responsibility (happily) to make a lamb cake for Easter (I was raised Catholic). I started baking maybe in 7th grade, got really good at it while in high school (and I prepared the family meals every night for 4 years), and then while I was married and after, assumed a few baking traditions. Easter lamb cake was one, Christmas fruitcake was another (which has since been taken up by one of my sisters) and always something for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Up until a few weeks ago, I didn't know when the official date was for Easter, but I noted there was Easter candy in my grocery store for weeks, so I stocked up on jelly beans, and stupid me, didn't buy any Peeps and now they are gone.

A few days ago I thought about how much I like lamb cake and thought maybe I should make one. I won't bake just for myself, but luckily I have some friends that will happily share whatever I come up with. So a few days ago I decided to make one. Below are the pics of everything in progress followed by the recipe that I use, which has served me well for many, many years.

Enjoy!

Batter

Greased pan

Greased and floured pan

Batter in the pan

Closed up pan ready to bake

Cake in the oven

Cake directly out of the oven

Cake while cooling

Frosting!

Ready for assembly

Frosted

Finished!

Easter Lamb Cake

1 lamb cake mold (available at Wilton’s or online, although the one I saw online is gay looking—mine must be vintage!)

Cake:
1 cup butter (salted is fine), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
2 cups cake flour or sifted all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. Baking powder
¼ tsp. Salt
finely grated rind (the yellow part) of one lemon

Preheat the oven to 350

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. This may be done by hand and does not require an electric mixer. Stir in the lemon rind.

Stir or sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and add to the batter slowly, mixing until blended.

Grease (I use butter, but I suppose you could use a spray cooking oil) and flour both halves of the cake mold. Be especially careful with the head/ears! Put the halves onto a baking sheet to support the thing while it bakes.

Spoon and then evenly distribute the batter into the side of the pan without the hole in the nose. Be sure to get into the crevices and the head and ears.

Cover the battered half with the top piece of the mold, and put a toothpick into the hole all the way down into the batter so its end does not stick out of the pan. This is to add strength to the thing’s face!

Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes. You can remove the top half of the mold after 50 minutes to check that it’s nicely browned and/or use a cake tester. It should be a light to medium golden brown. Remove from the oven, remove the top and let the cake cool while still in the bottom mold for at least 10 minutes. At that point, carefully invert the cake onto a plate for final cooling, leaving the lamb lying down (you might want to play Genesis ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ for this part). Cool cake thoroughly before beginning final assembly.

Buttercream Frosting:

3 ¾ cup confectioners sugar
½ cup butter (salted is OK to use), softened
3-4 tbsp. Milk or cream
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

I don’t prepare this the way the Domino’s package says, because if you do, you will have powdered sugar everywhere! Rather, I start with the butter, very soft, and stir in maybe a cup of the sugar, and then maybe ½ the milk and vanilla. Keep adding sugar slowly until it’s all in there and then sparingly add remaining milk, a little at a time. Depending on your altitude and humidity, you may need more or less milk. Be careful when adding either, because you want the end result to be smooth, but quite firm. Why is it that many recipes sound erotic?


Assembly:

Frosting
Jelly beans
Coconut (optional)
Food coloring (optional)
Ribbon (optional)
Aluminum foil

Choose your serving thing and line it with aluminum foil. Decide where the lamb is going to stand up and put some of the frosting there which will hold it in place.

Frost the entire cake using either a spatula, or you can use a decorating bag for all or part of it. You probably want to leave the face with smooth frosting. Some people like to get decorative with the lamb’s body. Do what you want! Frost the head last, so that you have something to hang onto while you work on the rest of the cake. Again, sorry if this sounds erotic.

I personally frost the entire cake smoothly, and then give the lamb, except for its face, a good coating of coconut, patting it gently in place so it’s evenly distributed. Use the entire recipe of frosting, which will allow you to choose where you want to put more or less.

Cut a black or dark-colored jelly bean in half to make the lamb’s eyes, or use some other candy if you like, and pick another color for its nose. Use frosting to secure these in place. Tie a ribbon around its neck or not.

If you’d like grass, dye some of the coconut green and then scatter at the lamb’s base, and toss in a few more jelly beans for a cute effect.

Cover cake loosely with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated.

This is a rich cake, especially if it’s coated with coconut, so slice thinly and let people fight over which part of it they want. My favorite part is the butt, of course!

Perfect!